Tech Tower.
Soon, the genius Stark located the Time Machine through Kang's computer.
"It's beneath Chronopolis."
Infinite Tony waved his hand, and a screen displayed a sun-like energy source.
"There's an incredibly powerful energy source underground. I'm betting that's the Time Machine."
He frowned slightly.
"Kang was a genius. This intricate device is fully repaired, but the core is encased in this energy source. To fix the core, you'd need to pass through the energy without destroying it and shrink the core to match the machine's size. That's a problem we can't solve right now."
Charlie smirked. "Not bad, Genius Stark. Figuring out the issue so quickly."
In the movies, Ant-Man's mother-in-law, Janet, got trapped in the Quantum Realm and met the exiled Kang. They repaired the Time Machine together.
But the machine was linked to Kang's nervous system. When activated, Janet saw Kang's true nature—a demon who'd destroyed countless multiverses. She couldn't let him escape the Quantum Realm to wreak havoc elsewhere.
So, Janet used Pym Discs to enlarge the Time Machine's core exponentially, destroying it and trapping Kang.
Now, the issue was that Kang had repaired the rest of the machine.
Charlie just needed to shrink the energy core to complete the repairs.
He looked at the limping Scott. "To get through the energy source to the core, it's up to you, little ant."
Scott's mouth twitched. "I'm injured. You sure you want to hand me this job?"
Charlie thought for a moment. "Calculate how many Pym Discs it'll take to shrink the core to normal size. I'll handle the rest."
"You want to borrow the suit?"
Scott pointed at his damaged foot. "Shrinking and enlarging freely requires the Ant-Man suit, but it's busted."
"You know how to sew?" Charlie asked.
Scott paused. "It's a tech suit. Can you respect Dr. Pym's invention?"
Infinite Tony stepped forward. "I studied the Ant-Man suit while working on time travel tech. It's not that complex. Give it to me—I'll fix it in half an hour."
Scott: "."
"That old man said it was his life's work. He lied." Scowling, Scott stripped off the suit.
Infinite Tony shrugged. "Discovering Pym Particles was luck, not skill. Otherwise, Kang wouldn't have fallen to them."
"No, Kang failed because of his arrogance," Old Steve said seriously. "He claimed to have slaughtered countless Avengers, so Pym Particles weren't a big deal to him.
He relied on his superpower, not tech, to kill Avengers.
Once his powers were taken, he was just a stray dog leaning on tech.
If it were me, I'd arm myself with Pym Particles. Even without powers, I wouldn't be helpless against strong enemies."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Am I right?"
Wade quietly approached and slapped Old Steve's raised backside.
"Old Captain, superpowers are harder to steal than tech weapons," he said.
"Unless you turn tech into knowledge."
Infinite Tony tapped the computer. "Besides the Time Machine, Kang's tech was looted from other universes. He couldn't rely on it—his time powers were his invincibility."
He stepped onto a platform, mechanical arms shooting out nano-metal. Tony donned a suit identical to Kang's.
Raising a hand, he manipulated nearby equipment with invisible gravity.
"Exactly."
Infinite Tony grinned. "Now I can go toe-to-toe with Kang. Simple as that." He spread his hands.
Charlie eyed Tony, raising an eyebrow.
"Mr. Iron Man, interested in guest-starring as Doctor Doom?"
"What?"
Infinite Tony blinked. "I don't get your joke. Not very funny."
Wearing the tech suit, he stepped off the platform, connecting his nano-armor's computer to analyze the tower's advanced tech.
Mastering it would make defeating someone like Thanos easy next time.
If he could resurrect.
Charlie caught Tony's drift.
So did Thanos.
For universal balance, Thanos had slaughtered countless races. Those wanting him dead were legion.
Including, possibly, this Iron Man.
A quiet life might only be possible in the Quantum Realm.
Thanos' gaze landed on Charlie.
Sensing it, Charlie knew Thanos had made up his mind. He had no interest in meddling.
The main world kept him busy enough—he didn't care about Thanos' beef with the movie universe Avengers.
He turned to Old Steve and the others.
"Once the Time Machine's fixed, your souls might not last long in the real world. So I'm giving you a mission."
Reminded, the group realized the stakes.
Old Steve shrugged, unbothered. He'd died so many times, he was used to it.
Even if his soul returned to his body, the Resurrection Match's one-month lifespan reward was nearly up.
He'd die anyway.
Venom Parker seemed equally indifferent.
His story was long over.
His life was already ruined.
Living or dying made no difference.
Seeing other universes' loved ones in the Resurrection Match was enough for him.
Scott, however, was visibly nervous, his survival instinct stronger than anyone's.
"Mr. Charlie, getting back to my universe depends on you." He looked at Charlie anxiously.
Charlie nodded. "No problem. If there's a chance—"
"No!" Scott shook his head. "There's no chance. Definitely none."
From Old Steve, he'd learned about the Resurrection Match.
Meeting Spider-Man meant death.
He might not even get into the match.
And if he did, he might not win.
Not everyone was like Spider-Man, winning consistently.
Under Charlie's orders, Scott and the others left Chronopolis to find what Charlie needed.
Charlie stayed to repair the Time Machine.
An hour later, he donned the fixed Ant-Man suit.
Facing the vast, dazzling golden sun, he slammed the device's button, shrinking and diving into the radiant energy.
Buzz~
Light flickered as Charlie shrank, energy elements flashing past his eyes.
He shot spatial webbing to dodge obstacles.
Soon, he crashed through a spatial membrane.
In the endless dark space, the core above couldn't illuminate the void.
Staring at the golden sun, Charlie's emotions stirred, and his body split into another self.
"What were you thinking?" the left Charlie asked.
The right Charlie shrugged. "You know, I wanna go back to New York."
Several more "Charlies" split off.
"New York? Who's in New York?"
"Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and my favorite celebrity. I've followed her forever but I'm too shy to talk to her. I'm worried she'd feel inferior seeing such an awesome superhero."
"Whoa, you actually answered."
"More bugs."
"You're calling yourself a bug?"
"Why not? Everyone else does. Why can't I?"
As Charlie's thoughts grew complex, more variants appeared.
Within seconds, a swarm of Charlies crowded the space.
The real Charlie, watching, could only facepalm.
"The Time Machine holds time's power. Anyone who messes with it goes nuts."
If Charlie were Kang, he'd also snap and want to destroy worlds.
When time loses meaning, everything does.
Nothing matters when you can get anything anytime.
In a moment's thought, thousands more variants appeared.
"Stop messing around. Let's do this!"
Charlie shot spatial webbing toward the sun, but some variants tried to stop him.
"Wait, this thing's fun. Let's play with it."
"Play with your corpse! Winning the Resurrection Match matters."
"No time here—playing's fine."
"Move!"
"Hey, you can't hit me."
"They're starting. We joining?"
"Obviously, help me."
"Right, help me."
"No, help me."
"Yeah, I'm helping me."
"Argh!! I'm going insane!!"
…
Tech Tower.
Infinite Tony studied Kang's thirty-first-century tech.
Thanos, distracted, stood on a balcony outside.
"It's been a week. The bug hasn't come out. Did he fail?" he frowned.
"No time here. It feels long to us, but for Charlie, it might just be starting," Gwen said, also taking a break.
Thanos glanced at her, nodding slightly.
"You're the bug's girlfriend?"
"No way," Gwen scoffed.
Thanos smirked faintly.
"Youth is nice," he mused.
Gwen grew curious. "They say you were a cosmic overlord who killed tons of Avengers."
"Yes, not just Avengers—countless races across the universe. I've lost track."
Thanos' face carried a faint sadness.
"I meant to save half the universe, but now it feels pointless. The universe is vast, the multiverse unimaginable. You get me?" He looked at Gwen.
She nodded. "I do. I'm writing a paper. Can you tell me about other cosmic wonders?"
"A paper?" Thanos blinked.
"Yeah, my thesis."
"You and the bug are classmates. Does he have to write one too?"
"That guy hasn't been to class in forever."
"So he's a slacker. No wonder," Thanos chuckled.
"No wonder what?" Gwen asked.
Thanos gazed at the starry sky. "No wonder he's so violent. All he knows is fighting."
"You're not much better, purple rage machine."
Exhausted, Charlie swung onto the balcony behind Thanos.
Gwen turned, shocked to see him drained. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Fought myself."
Charlie summoned a floating couch, panting heavily.
"You heard right. Fought myself. Not just one me. I never realized how awesome I am. They even used Sun Tzu to stop me."
He tossed a golden orb—the shrunken Time Machine.
Luckily, all variants shared the same goal. They played but didn't truly stop him, or the fight could've lasted eons.
He tapped the couch, drifting toward Infinite Tony.
"Using the Time Machine to leave the Quantum Realm needs precise coordinates, or we'll end up who-knows-where. I'm a slacker, so you handle it."
He tossed the orb to Infinite Tony.
"No problem, slacker," Tony said calmly.
Charlie: "."
No need to be that blunt.
Later, he found Gwen, asking about the main world.
"Since Doctor Octopus went rogue, he's been called the god of mutants. The Brotherhood's using his clout to recruit, growing strong enough to rival the authorities," Gwen said.
Charlie mused, "More mutants might be tied to Apocalypse waking up.
If we beat Apocalypse, the mutant crisis could end."
Gwen hesitated.
"What?" Charlie asked.
Lowering her head, Gwen said, "In a way, we're mutants too."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "What're you getting at?"
Gwen looked up. "If mutants are wiped out, will humans hunt us too?"
Charlie hadn't thought about it.
Because he didn't need to.
"You're already calling regular people 'humans.' That's a dangerous sign."
He stood, locking eyes with Gwen.
"Listen, mutants are human. We're human. Your dad, George, is human."
Gwen took a deep breath. "But the conflict between mutants and normals is irreconcilable. Mutants are seen as monsters. One day, superheroes like us will be too. We have to face reality."
"That's not reality. It's just a conflict stirred up by ambitious warmongers."